‘Uncharacteristic' Wheeler searches for answers as Phillies' win streak ends originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
SEATTLE — This is not the Zack Wheeler the Phillies are used to seeing.
And for a team trying to fight its way to a fifth straight postseason trip, this is not what they need right now.
That stood out Monday night at T-Mobile Park, where Philadelphia’s nine-game winning streak ended in a 9-2 loss to the Mariners.
Wheeler allowed five runs in the first inning. His command drifted. His misses were big. When he did come into the zone, too many pitches caught too much of the plate.
He frankly did not look like himself.
“Uncharacteristic,” Don Mattingly said.
After the Phillies manufactured a run on Alec Bohm’s run-scoring forceout in the top of the first, Wheeler walked Seattle leadoff man Randy Arozarena and allowed a single to Dominic Canzone.
He quickly got Julio Rodríguez into an 0-2 count, but left a splitter, one of his better offerings lately, over the middle of the plate. Wheeler seemed to know it right away as the ball sailed over the left-field wall.
In a blink, the Mariners had a 3-1 lead.
And one of the worst offenses in baseball lately kept going.
Josh Naylor was thrown out by Bryce Harper trying to stretch a single into a double, but Wheeler walked Taylor Ward and found himself in trouble again. Cal Raleigh, who entered the night batting .159, got a fastball up and in and drove it into the right-field seats.
5-1, Mariners.
Twenty-four pitches in, Philadelphia’s co-ace had already put the Phillies in a deep hole.
“Command was probably the biggest thing,” Mattingly said. “His stuff still seems good. Just command. It puts us in trouble.”
Wheeler settled down in the second, but loaded the bases in the third before another run scored on a wild pitch. He pitched in and out of trouble in the fourth, and with 94 pitches and seemingly in more of a rhythm, Mattingly sent him back out for the fifth.
Seattle kept slugging.
Raleigh hit his second homer of the night before adding a third later on against Alex McFarlane. Wheeler stayed in after Raleigh’s second homer and later allowed another, this one to Cole Young.
The decision to send him back out came down to need and trust.
“He wanted to go back out,” Mattingly said. “I kind of wanted him to go back out. We were going to keep it short. We weren’t going to let him go far. At that point, we’re down 6-2 … so I kind of really needed that inning, but didn’t get there.”
“He just hasn’t been able to make that pitch to get out of innings as much as anything that we’ve seen lately.”
The final line was jarring: four-plus innings, eight runs, four homers and five walks. It marked the first start in Phillies history in which a pitcher allowed at least four home runs and walked five batters. The eight runs tied Wheeler’s career high.
Wheeler did not search for excuses.
“I’ve just been really struggling the past few,” Wheeler said. “Throwing strikes, quality strikes with the fastball right now, hasn’t been fully consistent. Just got to get ahead of guys and get into counts where I want to be.”
The walks have become the loudest part of the skid.
“It’s really frustrating,” Wheeler said. “Leadoff the game, walking guys, and then it tumbles into a big inning for them. I hate walking guys. I used to walk guys and get bit, and I kind of got away from that. Now, this little stretch, I’ve been walking guys. It’s really frustrating.”
J.T. Realmuto has caught Wheeler through dominant stretches and off nights. This one looked different mostly because of where the misses were.
“Big misses, and then more pitches in the heart of the plate,” Realmuto said. “As a hitter, it just makes the ball look a little bigger when your misses are big, and then when you do throw it in the zone, it’s covering a little more plate than usual.”
That has become the concern.
Wheeler, 36, underwent thoracic outlet surgery last year and raised the bar quickly after his April return. He posted a 2.16 ERA over his first 16 starts, even pitching himself into the National League Cy Young conversation.
That makes the recent stretch feel even more jarring.
He has now allowed four or more runs in four of his last six starts. For a pitcher who has been one of baseball’s most reliable arms for years, each ineffective outing lands differently.
But Wheeler and the Phillies pushed back on the idea that this is about health or endurance.
“I feel perfectly fine,” Wheeler said. “Healthy, strong. Everything’s there. Just got to zone back in and figure it out.”
Mattingly said the same.
“He’s going to be fine,” Mattingly said. “I’m not worried about that part of it. If he’s not walking people, he’s not throwing as many pitches, he’s going deeper.”
So the focus shifts back to command, execution and whether anything else is giving hitters an edge.
Wheeler said the Mariners took enough good swings that he will look into more than one area.
“At this point, you’ve got to check off all the boxes,” Wheeler said. “We’ll sit down tomorrow and kind of dig in and see what’s really going on.”
Realmuto said the Phillies will review the possibility of tipping, though nothing stood out in real time.
“We’re just going to look into the tipping stuff because they took some pretty good swings on some offspeed pitches today that aren’t usual,” Realmuto said. “But nothing glaring that we noticed in game. For me, it’s really just command. The stuff still feels sharp. It’s coming out of his hand good.”
That is what makes the stretch complicated.
The Phillies do not sound alarmed about his body. But the results have not matched the pitcher they are used to handing the ball every fifth day.
“It’s been a while,” Wheeler said. “I haven’t had a stretch like this in a while. That’s why I’m so frustrated.”
Wheeler issued five free passes Monday and has now walked 15 batters over his last four starts, his most in a four-start span since late April to mid-May of 2014.
The Phillies did not have Wheeler last October. Their clearest path to a 2022-like pennant run this year involves leaning heavily on their top three starters. That is what makes this stretch so important.
Cristopher Sánchez has not been quite his top-flight self lately, posting a 3.84 ERA and 1.37 WHIP over his last 13 starts. Like Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo allowed four runs in his most recent outing. But in those games, the Phillies’ offense answered back and found a way to win.
That did not happen Monday.
Philadelphia scored in each of the first two innings against Mariners right-hander Logan Gilbert, but had no real answer after that.
Mattingly is not treating Wheeler like a lost pitcher.
“Anytime guys struggle, you’re concerned about it, you keep working, you get better,” Mattingly said. “But you’re not like, ‘Oh, this guy’s lost it. He’s never going to be good again.’ I don’t worry about that.”
The Phillies will send Aaron Nola to the mound Tuesday. Nola has surged lately, carrying a 5-9 record and 5.12 ERA into a matchup with George Kirby, who is 8-10 with a 4.18 ERA and has allowed 11 earned runs over his last two starts.
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